Pages

Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year's Eve! This is my last blog post of this year!!!
On Friday I reviewed Montana Rose by Mary Connealy. Today I will review the next book in the Montana Marriages Series, The Husband Tree.
This book was so funny!
It is about Belle Tanner. Her last name really isn't Tanner, but that's what folks call her nowadays because so many of her husbands have died that they give up and just call her by her maiden name. She has had three husbands, and buried the lazy, no-good men under what she and her four daughters call "The Husband Tree". Her husbands have all been purely useless, according to her, and she has taken on controlling her ranch with her baby girl Betsy on her back and her other three daughters as her ranch hands. They don't need any men and the haven't since Belle's first marriage.
Except, that is, until the girls miscounted their cattle and Belle needs to hire a few men to go on a cattle drive with them. Most men in town are already on their way on other cattle drives, and she is forced to hire Silas Harden, a drifter.
Belle is determined never to marry again, and all of her daughters remind her of this when the handsome Silas comes to work with them.
Silas has also chosen he never wants to marry also, because of his past experiences with women. Belle Tanner, on the other hand, is unlike any other woman Silas has ever met, and he is very bewildered by her, especially when he finds out that the other cow hands that he is joining on their journey are three little girls, all under the age of fourteen.
Silas grows to love Belle and her brood of independent girls.
A subplot to this book involves Wade Sawyer, the villain of Montana Rose. He has changed ever since Cassie and Red helped him find God and he is a completely different man.
He saves a white woman raised by Indians, Glowing Sun, from a group of white men who are trying to kidnap her.

This book, like all of Mary Connealy's, is a WONDERFUL read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Recently I read Montana Rose by Mary Connealy. I really enjoyed this book, as I have enjoyed all Mary Connealy books! She is my favorite author.
This book is about Cassie Griffin, whose husband has just died, abandoning her in the West. She had been married to him since she was fifteen years old when both of her parents died. People call her "China Doll" because of her beauty and how she seems to always be perfectly composed and obedient and even cold.
The minute after her husband is buried, the entire town proposes to her because she is just about the only single woman they have seen since moving out West. Mort Sawyer, who runs a very large ranch and is a wealthy man decides that he is going to marry her because he wants the land her husband had owned. His son, Wade Sawyer decides he wants to marry her also, but he is quickly shushed with a look from his abusive father.
Most people in town know to beware of the Sawyers, but when Red Dawson sees Mort attempting to marry a very unwilling Cassie, a woman he has admired from afar since he first saw her, he knows he must do something to save her.
He offers to marry her, and unsure of what to do and still in grief over her old husband's death, Cassie agrees to marry him. They are married on her dead husband's freshly dug grave, and Red pays off her deceased husband's debts. The man had lost her entire fortune buy buying her new silk dresses every year and an expansive mansion, both of which she never asked for.
Red warns Cassie that she will be living in a much smaller home with him and that he will not buy her any more fancy dresses.
Cassie has been accustomed to being forced to obey her husband, and to face his wrath if she does not. Red notices that she is afraid disobeying him and he realizes what her old husband was like.
Wade Sawyer has also watched Cassie since she came into town and is devastated that he did not marry her. He has been called a weakling by his father his whole life and decides to finally save Cassie from her marriage. He thinks that if only he could kill Red Dawson, he would not be a coward anymore. You see, he knew that Griff, Cassie's last husband, abused her so he felt connected to her because his father abuses him. He becomes crazed and wanders around by the Dawson's house, waiting for the "courage" to kill Red.

This book is great! I wrote a really long description of it, didn't I...? That is because the characters are so well-written that I wanted to share them with you!
What are you reading now?

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Matthew 1:22-23

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!!!
I am sorry I have not posted in a while; I took a break without warning you.
Well, most importantly, today is Christmas, but also, the new movie of Les Miserables comes out today!!! I was lucky enough to be able to see the movie early, so I have already seen it. I will review it for Broadway Tuesday today.
This movie was incredible! I LOVED it! It was just as amazing as I thought it would be and I cannot wait to see it again soon.
The effects and set were amazing and seemed particularly historical accurate. Anything they changed in the plot line, they changed to be more accurate to the original book, so I did not mind that things were changed slightly. I thought all of the details from the book that they added were very special.
The singing for the most part was great. Hugh Jackman played an amazing Jean Valjean and I think he is now my favorite Jean Valjean. Anne Hathoway was a great Fantine and as I have heard, she really cut her hair short for the part which is a big commitment that I don't know I would have done. Her voice was very pretty and her acting was very good. I did not like Russel Crowe as Javert. He did better than I thought he would, but his singing was very poor in my opinion. Just about any other Javert would have been better for me. I do not like Sasha Baren Cohen as a person but his acting as Thenardier was fitting of the character. I personally think Geoffrey Rush or Johnny Depp would have fit the part better. Helena Bonham Carter played the part of Madame Thenardier very well. The young Cosette was adorable and her voice was pretty. I did not enjoy Eddie Redmayne as Marius. To me, he was better than Nick Jonas, but his voice was not very strong or memorable. In my opinion, he was also not as handsome as I think Marius should be. Amanda Seyfried fit the part of Cosette very well. Her voice was good and I preferred her to other Cosettes I have heard. Aaron Tveit was a great Enjolras. I loved him as that role.I have to point out that Hadley Fraser played one of the National Guardsmen and I loved him! I saw him in the 25th concert as Grantaire and he was amazing at that part as well. Samantha Barks was also in that recording and she was a perfect Eponine in the movie! She is one of my favorites. I do not know the name of the actor who played young Gavroche but he was a very good Gavroche and very adorable. I am probably leaving out some other actors, but all in all the acting and singing in Les Miserables was amazing.
This movie was AWESOME and I cannot wait to see it again.

Have you seen Les Miserables yet? Did you enjoy it? When will you see it if you haven't yet?